


What he wanted

by Goji_Berry



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 08:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12361536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goji_Berry/pseuds/Goji_Berry
Summary: Adrien isn't sure why everyone wants to know what he wants for his birthday when he know for sure they can give it to him.





	What he wanted

 

Adrien’s birthday came and went year after year and every year he was given the same boring stuff. Well he did receive one great gift from his father; a soft blue scarf. Deep down, he questioned if his father really gave it to him because it was something so different and out of character for him to do, and from what he usually gave him. He really wanted to know, but that would mean, if his father didn’t give him the scarf, then he was certain that Nathalie had something to do with it and his father still didn’t really care about him.

The only persons that showed some feelings for him was his Mother who disappeared a long time ago, Nino; his best bud, Chloe who was always way over the top, and Alya was cool if she wasn’t around Marinette who he was sure didn’t like him. She didn’t even speak to him without stuttering and running away. He wished he knew why she hated him so much, he liked her. He thought she would at least give him a second chance at being friends after he offered her his umbrella and explained that it was Chloe who stuck the gum on her seat, not him. But it still didn’t matter, in fact, it seemed to make it worse.

Ladybug cared about him, sure! Because they _had_ to work together and she said she had feelings for someone else.

What a bummer…

That wasn’t going to stop his feelings though, he’d wait for her as long as he needed to.

She really _was_ nice enough to bring him a box of macaroons for one of his birthdays, so that was something. Thank heavens it wasn’t a pen; he had enough of those from his father.

Plagg even gave him a present… it really was a struggle to get the tiny kwami to release the package from his paws; but when he did, he had the saddest kitten eyes he’d ever seen. His mouth even trembled.

It only took a moment for that rotten smell to seep through the _gift_ to realize that …

  1. Plagg was giving him his Camembert
  2. Plagg loves cheese more than anything.
  3. Plagg was sacrificing his happiness
  4. Plagg really did care about him



With a soft smile, Adrien gave the cheese back and of course the kwami pretended to feel offended for less than 5 seconds before eating it.

After what happened with the bubbler, his father flat out refused anymore parties, not that he even approved of the one he had. So, every year came and went as it normally did. Boring, boring, boring.

So, one day after a long drawn out battle, one cataclysm, one lucky charm, and a miraculous cure later, the two heroes took off as their transformation count down began. Chat went one way and Ladybug went the other… or so he thought. He landed on a roof and DE transformed with an irate kwami hissing about procrastination and bad timing. Only to be quelled with more than one slice of Camembert. While the kwami ate, a red blur flew by and landed in the alley below him.

 It was unbelievable…

A bright flash of pink lit up the alley and Adrien hid. Now was ~~not~~ the time to find out his lady’s secret identity.

Peering over the side of the building, well out of view, Adrien watched.

He knew that alley well, even used it himself a few times so he knew it was a dead end.

He stared intently, fighting with himself, an angel on one shoulder and a demon on the other. One saying to look, the other a reprimand. Being the good guy, he was supposed to be, he started to look away but Marinette walked out of the alley.

“What the hell!”

No, that wasn’t Adrien, that was the demon who said that before cursing and vanishing.

Adrien just sat there and smiled.

Then it dawned on him that both of the girls that he like was the same person…

And they both hated him.

He suddenly became ill. His partner, who he now knows is Marinette, likes someone. So that’s why she avoids him and stutters when he tries to talk to her.

“Well damn!”

He played it off on patrol, trying to act like his Chat Noir self.

 It was awkward…

 How do you act now that you know?

Ladybug, well Marinette almost noticed it and he played it off with a cough and a yawn.

“If you’re too tired to patrol tonight Chat, I can take over.”

She would say something like that. Marinette is too kind.

“Would you? I really don’t want to leave you, but something isn’t right with my civilian side and I should take care of it before it gets worse.”

What wasn’t right was the fact that he wanted to go home and cry before he did it in front of her.

“Are you sick, Chat?”

“Yes, ~~my heart is broken~~ something like that”

“Well, kitty… take care of yourself, okay?”

“I -I will” Chat sighed, lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles before vaulting for home.

He knew if his lady had the chance, she’d push his face away before he could kiss her knuckles. That was the only chance he had and he took it. He doubts that would ever happen again.

A sleepless night meant for a horrible day. It was all too encompassing. He could hear his lady whispering to Alya and then an occasional sigh behind him.

Adrien rolled his eyes thinking about her mysterious male friend. He must be quite the catch to snag his lady. Is it Nathaniel?! Does he hold her hand? Does he take hits from akuma’s to protect her? Does he KISS HER!

Adrien growled and snapped his pencil in half.

“Is there a problem Mr. Agreste? Snapping your pencil in half doesn’t have anything to do with today’s experiment!”

“My apologies, Ma’am”

When lunch time rolled around, Nino pulled Adrien aside to find out what was bothering his best friend. Adrien said it was nothing and brushed it off. But not before Nino caught his bud staring at Marinette.

“Why don’t you go and say hi to what or who is called nothing?”

“What? What are you talking about? I said there was nothing wrong!”

“Okay dude… chill man; on another note… what do you want for your birthday this year?”

“My birthday?”

“Yeah dude… it’s been a year since your last one?”

“Nino, no one can give me what I want this time, so just forget it”

It really was a pity to say that since the gifts he got from his friends were regarded highly because they cared enough to think about him.

With that, Adrien brushed aside his friend and walked to his locker.

Alya saw the confused look on Nino's face and went to talk to him. Marinette tagged along. Always eager to get some news about her crush.

“What happened Nino? I’ve never seen Adrien act that way”

“Beats me; I only asked him what he wanted for his birthday this year”

“Well, what did he say?” Marinette questioned.

“He said… and I quote ‘ ** _no one can give me what I want this time, so just forget it_** ’

After that day, it became so annoying to Adrien that one by one, every student wanted to know what he wanted for his birthday this year. Some that never even spoke to him before. It would have been a nice gesture if any of those students actually knew him.

One by one, he gave them the exact same answer. He was getting tired of the same inquiry. The only people that hasn’t asked him yet was Kim, Chloe and Marinette.

Typical…

It was for the best anyway. Would he be able to lie to her? What would she do if he told her what he wanted?

He noticed her watching from a distance as rose asked next. When he turned his head to look at her, she put her head down and quickly walked… more like, ran away.

Adrien balled up his fist and exhaled slowly with his eyes closed. When he opened them, rose was worried. He put his hand gently on her shoulder and nicely told her the same thing he told everyone else. Rose frowned and walked away.

Just as Adrien thought his torment was over, Chloe started walking his way. She had a smirk on her face like she was going to prove her point to someone.

“Oh Crap!” Adrien moaned as the girl latched onto his arm.

“Adrikans, those losers are trying to find out what you want for your birthday this year. Naturally I told them they were wasting their time because **I** know what you want for your birthday this year”

“You… you do?” Adrien looked stunned. There’s no way she could possibly know what he wanted this year and still have a smile on her face; but …

“I’ll play along, Chloe; what do you think I want for my birthday?”

“Well, honey… let’s just say that I want to wait to mention it until the time is right”

“And what time will that be Chloe?”

“When I have an audience of course” Chloe smirked and was about to walk away when Adrien caught her arm.

“Chloe, I think you should tell me what you think it is to prevent some sort of embarrassment”

“The embarrassment will be on those losers”

“Chloe!”

“See ya on your birthday, sweetie!” Chloe waved goodbye and left.

“Oh boy, this is bad!” He thought

When Adrien turned to leave, He ran right into Kim’s chest.

“Sorry man… I didn’t see you.” Adrien apologized.

“Actually, you’re just the person I was looking for”

Adrien looked around and noticed everyone watching. He knew what Kim was about to say and he was NOT sticking around for it this time, so he ran, ignoring his name being called behind him.

He wasn’t sure why, all of a sudden, everyone was sooo interested in his birthday this year. Why now? Why not last year, or the year before that or the year before that? And why _Everyone_? Why didn’t everyone take such an interest in his 16 th birthday? Isn’t that why they call it sweet 16? Why are they even asking now? His 17th birthday is 3 weeks away.

He wanted to scream…

And he did just that when someone tapped his shoulder. He was so frustrated that Kim caught up with him and was going to ask him what he wanted for his birthday, that as he just turned toward him and yelled at the top of his voice…

“Would you just please leave me the hell alone!”

Marinette’s body shook at how loud Adrien shouted at her. Tears quickly formed in her eyes and her lips trembled.

Adrien’s eyes were impossibly big when he realized his mistake. But before he could apologize, Marinette ran away in tears.

When he looked around, Alya, Nino, and quite a few students stared in awe. Alya had the look of murder in her eyes and Nino just removed his ball cap and slid a finger across his throat.

Yeah, he knew he was dead.

Adrien put his head down and called for his ride to go home, he had enough from college today.

Adrien didn’t return to school for two weeks. The first text messages he received was death threats from Alya and harsh comments from Nino; he chose to ignore them, he needed time. The same type of messages flowed in as the days went on and Adrien never replied to those either.  Into the second week, things were a lot calmer and the text messages he received turned into concerns for his absence and more of a genuine understanding that maybe his home life was causing his problem. He still chose to ignore them too.

Plagg didn’t really want to bother Adrien, but his sulking was getting on his nerves.

“So, are you planning on meeting up with Ladybug tonight? Because she’s going to know somethings up if you don’t show up for patrol again.”

“Why don’t you just go find another Chat Noir, Plagg” Adrien mumbled in his pillow.

“What?! What is wrong with you kid!”

“Plagg, I yelled at her… I literally screamed in her face! Do you know how I feel? I can’t go on patrol and look at her after what I did! I hurt her!”

“Kid… get over it! You have a job to do so swallow your pride or whatever funk you’re in and get up and do it! She can’t keep fighting villains on her own, what if she gets hurt? What if hawkmoth takes her Miraculous? What if he wins? How will you live with yourself then, huh?!”

“What do I tell her? I didn’t show up to help you fight because I hurt your civilian side?”

“No, tell her you were sick! It won’t be a total lie.”

 

“Hey Chat…. You’re finally back, what happened to you?”

“I guess I was sicker than I thought Mar-My lady”

Ladybug looked at him oddly…

“Well, if you’re all better now, I’m glad to have you back Chat” Ladybug smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Are you okay Milady? My absence didn’t cause you any trouble, did it?”

“No, things went surprisingly well I have to say…” ladybug looked out over the city. “I I’m just feeling a little down that’s all.”

“Is there something I can help you with?” Chat questioned, knowing he was the reason for her sadness.

“No… I just need to work out my feelings on my own”

“Did someone… hurt you?”

“Yea… something like that”

“What happened?”

“A guy from school yelled at me, it was awful… I was so embarrassed that I just ran away from him”

It was official, he was the scum of the earth…

“Maybe he made a mistake? Maybe he thought you were someone else?” Chat commented as delicately as he could without raising suspicion.

“Maybe… but I doubt it.” Ladybug shrugged her shoulders as her face fell a little bit more. “I guess I’ll never know, now will I?”

“What do you mean by that, Milady?”

“Well, everyone is saying his father pulled him out of college again, he’s already been gone for over two weeks, on top of that, his birthday is in a couple of days and he wouldn’t give anyone a clue as to what he wanted.”

“Why bother getting him something if he won’t tell you anything?”

“I guess people wanted to see him happy for something they did for him because they cared about him and his happiness, but believe me, everyone knows he can buy anything he wants.”

“But if he…”

“Look Chat… I’m sorry; I don’t really want to talk about him anymore, okay?”

“Forgive me, Milady… I won’t bring it up again.”

“Come on Chat, let’s get this patrol over with”

“Right behind you”

 

Two more days had passed before Adrien went back to school. His father was only going to believe so much before he called a doctor to investigate his son’s _illness_. Adrien really didn’t want to go back to college until after his birthday was over. It would have saved him a lot of trouble, but now he has to deal with an explanation for his actions…

  _on_ his birthday.

When he arrived at school, everyone seemed to be heading in the same direction…

The auditorium.

He could see eyes shifting to look at him and then looking away. He wanted to curl in on himself, but he went to the auditorium as well, to at least see what was going on.

Everyone took a seat and he could hear all the whispered questions about the surprise gathering. The principle, Mr. Damocles walked to the podium.

“Hello students… I’m going to get right to the point as to why I called a school meeting. Over the last few weeks, every class has been disrupted for the exact same reason and I am here to put an end to it so we can all get back to the reason everyone is attending college; To learn and get a higher education! Today we will get the answer that everyone, including the teachers have been asking, and after today, there will be no more of this ever…again! Is that understood students?!”

The principle looked around at all the nodding heads and caught sight of his target.

“Adrien Agreste, will you come up here now please?”

Adrien felt like throwing up, now all of this was his fault and he’s been home for over two weeks. Adrien looked around for a black butterfly because right now, he was not happy!”

Every eye was on him but this was so different from modeling on the catwalk, this felt like walking the plank.

Adrien made his way next to Mr. Damocles and Mr. Damocles nodded and turned toward the Audience.

“It’s no secret that today is Adrien Agreste's birthday. Heck, it’s most likely hundreds of other people’s birthdays today as well. I’m not sure why or how the question got so big and wanting to know the answer became so desperate. I want everyone to stop this nonsense and move on to more important things. So, the first thing I want to say is Adrien Agreste happy birthday to you and for the sake of everyone’s sanity, what do you want for your birthday?”

The principle gave the microphone to Adrien and Adrien looked like a deer caught in headlights. His face turned red and he started to sweat.

_“Ugh…Help me my Chat Noir persona!”_

Adrien thought as his eyes scanned the auditorium. His eyes caught onto the bluenette pigtails and she had her head down while Alya whispered in her ear. He looked at Nino and Nino gave him the thumbs up.

At least he wasn’t mad at him…

“As I…”

The room was so quiet, he could hear heartbeats”

Wait! That was his own…

“As I said a few weeks ago, no one can really give me what I want, not what I _really_ want. So, I wanted this birthday to pass by just like all the other ones. Someone told me a few nights ago that maybe people wanted to see me happy for something they did for me because they cared about me and my happiness even though I _could_ go out and buy anything I wanted.

Marinette’s head shot up.

“…That really surprised me because it’s true, If I wanted something I could just go out and buy it…

Marinette gasped as she imagined Adrien with a mask, cat ears, and a black suit.

“…But I can’t buy love, I can’t take it from the one I’ve been in love with for years…” Adrien lifted his head to look directly at Marinette and he could see the pain in her eyes. So, he looked away.

"What I really want can only come from one person but that person doesn’t like me… any part of me.”

There was a collective “Aww…” that came from the audience and whispers amongst the students trying to guess at who he was referring to.

“So, if everyone wants to know what I want for my birthday, not like it’s going to make a difference anyway, it’s Ma…”

“ME!” Chloe shrieked as she ran up on the stage. “Oh Adrikans, I knew it was me all this time and you don’t have to buy my love because I already love you!”

She hung onto his arm and fluttered her eyes, and the student body groaned so loud that the principle asked for quiet.

“But Chloe…”

“We will be the cutest couple ever, Adrikans!”

“But Chloe…” Adrien said as he tried to pry the girl off of his arm.

“And, Daddy loves you anyway, sooo…”

“CHLOE, I WAS TALKING ABOUT MARINETTE! I WANT… HER!!”

The whole auditorium broke out in cheers along with the angry shriek coming from Chloe.

Chloe stormed off the stage embarrassed and Adrien looked at the audience. Marinette was grabbed and thrown on top of a sea of outstretched hands that pushed and rolled her to the stage like a boat coming into port. All while she yelped and squealed. She was pushed up on the stage and she quickly fixed her ruffled clothes as she stood in front of Adrien.

“Well, I didn’t see that coming” Mr. Damocles shook him head. “From the blushed look on your face, Marinette… you don’t _seem_ like you hate Adrien, or am I mistaken?”

“I-I actually h-had a crush on him for years.”

The whole assembly broke out in cheers again.

Adrien’s face lit up and a grin spread across his face. He lifted her hand and he kissed her knuckle.

“Do you Marinette Dupain-Cheng take Adrien Agreste to be your lawfully wedded Husband… I mean BOYFRIEND!”  Mr. Damocles corrected red-faced.

“I do!” Marinette giggled wishing she was really asked that question while she was wearing an engagement ring.

“Well, since we all know that Adrien finally got what he wanted for his birthday present, I now pronounce that you, Adrien and this whole assembly ….

“GET TO CLASS!”


End file.
